Wed Apr 11 14:05:07 GMT 2018

*Call for Papers**: NEW APPROACHES TO SILENT FILM HISTORIOGRAPHY:
TECHNOLOGY, SPECTATORSHIP AND THE ARCHIVE*

_The event is a collaboration between the University of Leeds’ School of
Languages, Cultures, and Societies, the Universities of York and
Sheffield, and the Audiovisual Heritage Meeting. The conference is
generously funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council and White
Rose College of the Arts & Humanities_

In the years following the death of silent cinema and the rise of the
talkies in the early 1930s, there was a supreme lack of interest in
silent film preservation and restoration. Due largely to this lack of
care and, in many cases, deliberate destruction of silent films, the
Library of Congress estimates that about 75% of all silent films are now
lost forever. Many of the silent films that managed to survive in
archives and private collections are incomplete or suffered significant
damage and decay. During the 1980s, owing largely to the launch and
success of home cinema and the establishment of silent film forums and
events (e.g. Pordenone Silent Film Festival), a renewed interest in
silent film developed. More recently, high quality digital restoration
technology has given archives and independent silent film restorers new
opportunities to compensate for substantial filmic losses. In addition
to this, HD home media silent film releases, and internet platforms such
as YouTube, have made numerous silent films readily available to the
public. Although these current developments have arguably improved the
aesthetic qualities of many silent films and made them far more
accessible to the public, they have also raised controversial questions
surrounding the safeguarding of the filmmakers’ artistic intent, the
contextualisation and historical reliability of film experiences, and
the sustainability of digital preservation, amongst other issues. This
conference will analyse the impact of recent technological and
institutional developments on the study, experience, and restoration of
silent films and discuss sustainable ways forward.